Judges 20:2

20:2 The leaders ¹  of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which numbered ²  four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers.

Numbers 1:46

1:46 And all those numbered totaled 603,550.

Numbers 26:51

Total Number and Division of the Land

26:51 These were those numbered of the Israelites, 601,730. ³ 

Numbers 26:1

A Second Census Required

26:1 ⁴ After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, ⁵ 

Numbers 11:8

11:8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil. ⁶ 

Numbers 15:4

15:4 then the one who presents his offering to the Lord must bring ⁷  a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of olive oil. ⁸ 

Numbers 15:1

Sacrificial Rulings

15:1 ⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Numbers 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ¹⁰  detest this worthless ¹¹  food.”

Numbers 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ¹²  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ¹³  this people into our ¹⁴  hand, then we will utterly destroy ¹⁵  their cities.”

Numbers 17:1

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

17:1 ¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses:

[20:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts – 1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.

[20:2]  ² tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[26:51]  ³ sn This number shows only a slightly smaller total in the second census; the first was 603,550.

[26:1]  ⁴ sn The breakdown of ch. 26 for outlining purposes will be essentially according to the tribes of Israel. The format and structure is similar to the first census, and so less comment is necessary here.

[26:1]  ⁵ tc The MT has also “saying.”

[11:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “And its taste was like the taste of fresh olive oil.”

[15:4]  ⁷ tn The three words at the beginning of this verse are all etymologically related: “the one who offers his offering shall offer.”

[15:4]  ⁸ sn Obviously, as the wording of the text affirms, this kind of offering would be made after they were in the land and able to produce the grain and oil for the sacrifices. The instructions anticipated their ability to do this, and this would give hope to them. The amounts are difficult to determine, but it may be that they were to bring 4.5 liters of flour and 1.8 liters each of oil and wine.

[15:1]  ⁹ sn The wilderness wandering officially having begun, these rules were then given for the people to be used when they finally entered the land. That they would be provided here would be of some encouragement to the nation after their great failure. God still spoke of a land that was to be their land, even though they had sinned greatly. This chapter collects a number of religious rules. The first 16 verses deal with rulings for sacrifices. Then, vv. 17-36 concerns sins of omission. Finally, rules concerning tassels are covered (vv. 37-41). For additional reading, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1925); B. A. Levine, In the Presence of the Lord (SJLA); D. J. McCarthy, “The Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice,” JBL 88 (1969): 166-76; “Further Notes on the Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice,” JBL 92 (1973): 205-10; J. Milgrom, “Sin Offering or Purification Offering,” VT 21 (1971): 237-39; N. H. Snaith, “Sacrifices in the Old Testament,” VT 7 (1957): 308-17; R. J. Thompson, Penitence and Sacrifice in Early Israel; R. de Vaux, Studies in Old Testament Sacrifice.

[21:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[21:2]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ¹⁵ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[17:1]  ¹⁶ sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.